Quote Tom Ballinger:ok so it was
even more rushed than i thought it would be because they had allot to rehearse so i just
had to hit record and hope for a good full run through of a song.

Location recording ad hoc events usually
is more rushed than ideal. It's a natural part of the challenge that encourages an
efficient minimalist approach focusing on what you really need to achieve a useable
result, rather than what would be nice to have. You really do have to make sure you get it
right there and then, and not hope you an fix it in the mix. A learning experience, but
that's what you were there for.

Quote:Lots of paper sounds as they had no music stands and didn't know
the words. People kept talking at the end not letting the reverb tail finish so iv had to
cut it short.

These kinds
of things can completely ruin otherwise great recordings, as you've discovered. It can
happen when recording live concerts with the LSO and symphony chrous just as easily as an
amateur choir in a village church. The solution is about taking active control over your
recording, rather than being entirely passive.

It's well worth taking a
couple of minutes to talk to the choir and choirmaster just before you are going to
record, and really emphasise the importance of staying quiet or ten seconds (or whatever
is necessary) at the end, and of turning pages as quietly as possible. Usually, if you
make them aware of the issues and how they will spoil the recording, and you ask nicely,
they will so what you ask.

Quote:In the end i went for the soundfield as an M/S with two flanking
Omnis and an ORFT (SE2s) well back past the critical distance. Sounds rather distant
compared to other choral/organ recording iv heard but for the purpose of university i
think it came out alright.

I found the organ sounded quite acceptable with a nice acoustic and perspective, but the
choir is, as you say, too distant and low level, with inprecise diction. The main mic
needed to be closer. However, this would also have revealed the inadequacies and poor
internal balance of the choir... I've heard
worse being broadcast before now, and you've clearly analysed the strengths and weaknesses
yourself already, which is a good thing. Knowing where you went wrong is essential for
doing it better next time, and if you already knew how to do it perfectly you wouldn't
need to be on the course!

As far as the abrupt end is concerned, again,
sometimes you are forced into having to do something like this. As EW says, the neatest
way of coming up with a presentable product is to try to match the reverb character with
an artificial reverb, and add that to the end.

I find the
choir paradoxically too far back and too wide. Possibly the choir is too near the organ,
and the mic too near the choir, or too wide in the mix?

I would much rather be
'honest' and have the talking at the end. Though as Hugh said a good reverb tail faded up
at the end would be nice.

As for rustles etc, just a but can be done with
automated EQ.

But generally a pretty good recording, and we don't know all the
pressures and limitations you had on the day!

I've taken some liberties with
the track ... EQ to bring out the choir, and to cut some organ high bass, plus the
aforementioned rustles. Then added the end reverb, though with some running all the
way through to widen my narrowed soundstage and to help blend the end reverb tail. I
nearly added huge applause, but just managed not to! Here's the link

BRIEF:You will demonstrate a clear understanding of the technologies and techniques
required to record high quality audio on location. The locations you chose for the
recording must not be controlled spaces (i.e. the studio). The aim of the recording is to
recreate an acoustic space and to demonstrate an appreciation of the strengths and
weaknesses of the techniques employed.

I think the real aim of this is to
demonstrate that we understand the processes and techniques of location recording and are
capable of doing so to a high standard. Iv also submitted a research report outlining why
i chose the techniques and microphones used.

Quote Tom Ballinger:BRIEF:You will demonstrate a clear understanding of the technologies and techniques required
to record high quality audio on location. The locations you chose for the recording must
not be controlled spaces (i.e. the studio). The aim of the recording is to recreate an
acoustic space and to demonstrate an appreciation of the strengths and weaknesses of the
techniques employed.

I think the real aim of this is to demonstrate that we
understand the processes and techniques of location recording and are capable of doing so
to a high standard. Iv also submitted a research report outlining why i chose the
techniques and microphones used.

I was monitoring on headphones (DT770s if it
makes any difference)

Leaving out that that it was maybe too late to do anything about it, did you hear the
balance problem and the page noise while recording? Or did it come as a surprise when you
started mixing?